Page 70 of Perfect Liar
I recognized right then how serious things had become between us—how quickly we had fallen. He’d put everything into the kiss we shared on the tarmac in Connecticut, proving he was all in. One hundred percent. No middle ground.
And now, I didn’t want him to leave me. Not that night, not ever. I kissed his cheek and tugged on his arm.
“Come on, let’s walk. What’s in this direction?”
Will grabbed my hand and curled his fingers around it.
“It’s a bit of a walk, but there is something down there I want you to see.”
We headed east holding hands to a quiet expanse of shoreline beneath chalky white cliffs. The Channel’s intensity had carved out gorgeous walls with little hidden coves. We dropped our things there, and he led me into the water.
Will pointed above the cliffs.
“Can you see beyond the trees on the ridge?”
I shook my head. He was much taller than me. So I stepped farther into the water, where the tide swept over my knees.
Beyond a grove of trees, I saw chimneys.
I took two more steps backward, and there…the house.
Eastridge overlooked our exact location, an elegant stone fortress. She stood tall and proudly announced her presence to all who looked her way.
“How beautiful,” I breathed, mesmerized.
Will’s stare burned into the side of my face.
An aggressive tide swept in, and he pulled me onto the beach and kissed me again.
A gust of cool air washed over me, leaving behind a sheet of goose bumps on my skin. And with a song meant only for me, the sea whispered a message to me.
I shut my eyes and arched my back, stretching out my arms, trusting Will to hold me, to keep me safe, while I sent my silent reply to the whispers.
It had found me.
My hair floated behind me on the hard-driving breeze.
And in that very moment, something peaceful, something so honest that it hurt, claimed my heart.
Will pulled me back into his arms and kissed my lips.
I didn’t open my eyes.
“You were never lost, Elle. I would never let that happen.”
CHAPTER 21
Will’s body filled the arched opening of the alcove, and no one could get around him to go in or out of the restrooms at Ethan’s pub.
He flashed me a handsome, possessive smile as I came out of the ladies’ room. The one that fired up my soul and my body and changed me. Then he winked, jerked me close, and slid his tongue over my neck to my ear.
“I’m quite hungry, baby,” he whispered.
I rubbed my cheek against his. The sting caused by his course stubble made me want more, more pain, more fire, more him.
John shouted from the other end of the pub.
“Hey, our table’s over here.”